Student Kassidy Milanowski is on the brink of graduation, and ready to start a journey she hopes one day will blend her three greatest passions: coffee, pinball and entrepreneurship.

"My dream has always been to own a coffee shop," Kassidy shares. "I remember being little and building coffee shops out of Legos, drawing pictures, and trying to come up with new recipes. I bought an espresso machine a few years ago and have been experimenting ever since."

Taking care of business

Growing up in Combined Locks, Kassidy finished high school early and enrolled in the Small Business Entrepreneurship associate degree program at age 17. Taking a practical approach to her education, Kassidy already earned a technical diploma in bookkeeping, something she knows will be integral to any business start-up.

"I'm not going to start a business the month after I graduate," Kassidy says. "I want to make sure I build my business right, look for the right opportunities, and plan everything carefully."

Her entrepreneurial spirit is fueled by her family’s history of small businesses. She grew up watching her parents run an Etsy business out of their house for almost ten years.

She also grew up watching them play pinball.

Pinball wizard

Kassidy’s mom and aunt grew up playing pinball and years later, when her aunt bought a 1979 Space Invaders-themed machine, Kassidy found herself launching pinballs at just nine years old.

“Today, my aunt and uncle have about seven pinball machines and my parents have three at home, “ Kassidy explains.

At age twelve, Kassidy watched her dad compete in a pinball tournament at District 82 Pinball in De Pere. That’s when Kassidy the spectator became Kassidy the competitor.

I fell in love with pinball before I even knew it was a competitive thing. But then finding out there were competitions and doing well in them made me realize I had to stick with it.

Kassidy’s competitive spirit emerged, and she’s collected many tournament trophies over the years, including winning the Wisconsin Women’s State Championship three years in a row.

Earlier this spring,  her state championship victory earned her a spot in the North American Championship in Portsmouth, New Hampshire,  where she tied for fifth through eighth place.

Separately, Kassidy qualified for the International Flipper Pinball Association’s Women’s World Championship, where she finished in fourth place. It was Kassidy’s first time breaking the top four in the world championship.

Coffee and pinball

As Kassidy prepares to graduate, she is tapping into what she’s learned at FVTC. Her plan is to work full-time to save money, develop a business plan and seek investors for her vision of creating a pinball-friendly coffee shop.

She acknowledges the challenge of blending these two elements; she’s already considering options like separate pinball rooms or designing a space to accommodate both coffee lovers and pinball enthusiasts.

"Ideally, I want a coffee shop with pinball incorporated somewhere in it," Kassidy says. "It would be a casual, social place where people can hang out, drink coffee, and play pinball. I need to make sure there are enough people like me who would enjoy a place like that."